Image setting device, image setting method, and image setting program

ABSTRACT

A processor generates a structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image from a plurality of tomographic images and detects a structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image. The processor sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as storage-required images or non-storage-required images according to a result of comparison between the structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic images and the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of PCT InternationalApplication No. PCT/JP2020/045512, filed on Dec. 7, 2020, which claimspriority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-017415, filed on Feb.4, 2020. Each application above is hereby expressly incorporated byreference, in its entirety, into the present application.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an image setting device, an imagesetting method, and an image setting program.

Related Art

In recent years, image diagnosis using a radiography apparatus (calledmammography) for capturing an image of a breast has attracted attentionin order to promote early detection of breast cancer. Further, in themammography, tomosynthesis imaging has been proposed which moves aradiation source, irradiates the breast with radiation at a plurality ofradiation source positions to acquire a plurality of projection images,and reconstructs the plurality of acquired projection images to generatetomographic images in which desired tomographic planes have beenhighlighted. In the tomosynthesis imaging, the radiation source is movedin parallel to a radiation detector or is moved so as to draw a circularor elliptical arc according to the characteristics of an imagingapparatus and the required tomographic image, and imaging is performedon the breast at a plurality of radiation source positions to acquire aplurality of projection images. Then, the projection images arereconstructed using, for example, a back projection method, such as asimple back projection method or a filtered back projection method, or asequential reconstruction method to generate tomographic images.

The tomographic images are generated in a plurality of tomographicplanes of the breast, which makes it possible to separate structuresthat overlap each other in a depth direction in which the tomographicplanes are arranged in the breast. Therefore, it is possible to find anabnormal part such as a lesion that has been difficult to detect in atwo-dimensional image (hereinafter, referred to as a simpletwo-dimensional image) acquired by simple imaging according to therelated art which irradiates an object with radiation in a predetermineddirection.

In addition, a technique has been known which combines a plurality oftomographic images having different distances (positions in a heightdirection) from a detection surface of a radiation detector to aradiation source, which have been acquired by tomosynthesis imaging,using, for example, an addition method, an averaging method, a maximumintensity projection method, or a minimum intensity projection method togenerate a pseudo two-dimensional image (hereinafter, referred to as asynthesized two-dimensional image) corresponding to the simpletwo-dimensional image (see JP2014-128716A). In the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image, an abnormal part included in the tomographicimage is less affected by the tissues in the thickness direction of thebreast than that in the simple two-dimensional image. Therefore, the useof the synthesized two-dimensional image makes it easy to interpret anabnormal part in the breast with one image.

In contrast, in the medical field, a computer aided diagnosis(hereinafter, referred to as CAD) system has been known whichautomatically detects a structure, such as an abnormal shadow, in animage and displays the detected structure so as to be highlighted. Forexample, the CAD is used to detect important diagnostic structure, suchas a calcification, a spicula, and a tumor, from the tomographic imagesacquired by the tomosynthesis imaging. In addition, a method has beenproposed which, in a case in which a synthesized two-dimensional imageis generated from a plurality of tomographic images acquired byperforming the tomosynthesis imaging on the breast, detects a region ofinterest including a structure using the CAD and combines the detectedregion of interest on, for example, a projection image or atwo-dimensional image acquired by simple imaging to generate asynthesized two-dimensional image (see the specification of U.S. Pat.No. 8,983,156B). Further, a method has been proposed which combinestomographic images including only the structure detected by the CAD togenerate a synthesized two-dimensional image (see the specification ofU.S. Pat. No. 9,792,703B). The use of the methods disclosed in thespecification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B or the specification of U.S.Pat. No. 9,792,703B makes it possible to generate a synthesizedtwo-dimensional image in which an abnormal shadow is easily observedsince the structure, such as the abnormal shadow, is highlighted.

Further, in some cases, comparative observation over time is performedusing the past radiographic images in order to diagnose the healingstate or the progress state of a disease. In this case, radiographicimages acquired by the latest examination and radiographic imagesacquired by the past examination are transmitted from a picturearchiving and communication system (PACS) that stores a plurality ofimages for diagnosis to an image interpretation terminal, and aradiologist performs comparative image interpretation.

However, the tomosynthesis imaging is performed to acquire a pluralityof tomographic images. However, as the number of images used fordiagnosis increases, the storage capacity of the images in the PACSincreases. Therefore, a storage cost increases. In addition, it takestime to transmit an image from a console of an imaging apparatus to thePACS and further from the PACS to an image interpretation terminal,which results in an increase in the transmission cost. Therefore, amethod has been proposed which combines every predetermined number oftomographic images among a plurality of tomographic images to generateslab images and stores or transmits the slab images (seeJP2017-510323A). According to the method disclosed in JP2017-510323A, itis possible to reduce the number of tomographic images. Therefore, it ispossible to reduce a cost for storing or transmitting the images.

However, even in a case in which the slab image is generated as in themethod disclosed in JP2017-510323A, the amount of data of the images tobe stored or transmitted is still large. Therefore, it is desired tofurther reduce the cost for storage or transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances,and an object of the present disclosure is to further reduce a cost forstoring or transmitting an image acquired by tomosynthesis imaging.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an image settingdevice comprising at least one processor. The processor is configured togenerate a structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image froma plurality of tomographic images, to detect a structure of interestfrom the plurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional images, and to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as storage-required images ornon-storage-required images according to a result of comparison betweenthe structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages and the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

The “structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image” is apseudo two-dimensional image generated by combining a plurality oftomographic images and is a synthesized two-dimensional image in which astructure, such as an abnormal shadow, included in the tomographic imagehas been highlighted by the method disclosed, for example, in thespecification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B and the specification of thespecification of U.S. Pat. No. 9,792,703B.

The “storage-required image” means an image that needs to be stored ortransmitted to an external device. The “non-storage-required image”means an image that does not need to be stored or transmitted to theexternal device.

In addition, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as the non-storage-required images andto set the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image asthe storage-required image in a case in which a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages is not matched with a position or number of the structures ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to receive a setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images is not matched with a position or numberof the structures of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image and to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is not matched withthe position or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image and the settingof determining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images is received.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is matched with aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

Furthermore, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to receive a setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images is matched with a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image and to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is matched with theposition or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image and the settingof determining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images is received.

Moreover, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as the non-storage-required images andto set the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image asthe storage-required image in a case in which a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages is matched with a position or number of the structures ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

Furthermore, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to receive a setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images is matched with a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image and to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is matched with theposition or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image and the settingof determining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images is received.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is not matched with aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to receive a setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images is not matched with a position or numberof the structures of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image and to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images and the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required images in acase in which the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is not matched withthe position or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image and the settingof determining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images is received.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional imagefrom the plurality of tomographic images and to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image in a case inwhich the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is setto be generated.

Furthermore, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as the storage-required images in a casein which the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image isset not to be generated.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to receive a setting ofdetermining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images or the non-storage-required images in a case inwhich the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is setnot to be generated and to set at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which thesetting of determining at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages as the storage-required images is received.

Furthermore, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, in a case in which the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image is set not to be generated, the processor may beconfigured to generate another synthesized two-dimensional imagedifferent from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage from the plurality of tomographic images and to set anothersynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required image.

The “another synthesized two-dimensional image different from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image” is, forexample, a pseudo two-dimensional image that is generated by the methoddisclosed in JP2014-128716A and is generated by combining a plurality oftomographic images having different distances (positions in a heightdirection) from a detection surface of a radiation detector to aradiation source using an addition method, an averaging method, amaximum intensity projection method, a minimum intensity projectionmethod, or the like and is a synthesized two-dimensional image in whicha structure is not highlighted and which is different from thesynthesized two-dimensional image generated by the method disclosed inthe specification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B or the specification ofU.S. Pat. No. 9,792,703B.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to store an image set as thestorage-required image in a storage.

In this case, the processor may be configured to store informationindicating a detection result of the structure of interest in thestorage.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to transmit an image set asthe storage-required image to an external device.

In this case, the processor may be configured to transmit informationindicating a detection result of the structure of interest to theexternal device.

Furthermore, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, at least some of the plurality of tomographic images may betomographic images in which the structure of interest has been detected.

Moreover, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, at least some of the plurality of tomographic images may bea plurality of slab images obtained by increasing a thickness of each ofthe plurality of tomographic images.

The “increasing the thickness of each of the plurality of tomographicimages” means combining some tomographic images included in theplurality of tomographic images using addition, weighting and addition,or the like to generate one tomographic image from some of the pluralityof tomographic images. Therefore, one tomographic image generated from aplurality of tomographic images is a slab image.

In addition, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, the processor may be configured to reconstruct a pluralityof projection images acquired by performing tomosynthesis imaging on anobject to acquire the plurality of tomographic images.

Further, in the image setting device according to the presentdisclosure, an object included in the plurality of tomographic imagesmay be a breast, and the structure of interest may include at least onecandidate of a calcification, a tumor, or a spicula.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an image settingmethod comprising: generating a structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image from a plurality of tomographic images; detectinga structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image; and setting atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images as storage-requiredimages or non-storage-required images according to a result ofcomparison between the structure of interest detected from the pluralityof tomographic images and the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

In addition, a program that causes a computer to perform the imagesetting method according to the present disclosure may be provided.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to further reduce acost for storage or transmission.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of aradiographic image interpretation system to which an image settingdevice according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure isapplied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of theradiography system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mammography apparatus as viewed froma direction of an arrow A in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of theimage setting device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing an imaging program and animage setting program in a computer constituting a console.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the acquisition of projection images.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the generation of tomographic images.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the generation of astructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the detection of a structure ofinterest from a plurality of tomographic images and a synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the detection of the structure ofinterest from the plurality of tomographic images and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the firstembodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a second embodiment that isimplemented by installing the imaging program and the image settingprogram in the computer constituting the console.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving asetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as storage-required images in a case in which aposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images is matched with a position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the secondembodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a third embodiment that is implementedby installing the imaging program and the image setting program in thecomputer constituting the console.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving asetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the thirdembodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in a fourthembodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a fifth embodiment that is implementedby installing the imaging program and the image setting program in thecomputer constituting the console.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving asetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the fifthembodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a sixth embodiment that is implementedby installing the imaging program and the image setting program in thecomputer constituting the console.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving asetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images is not matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the sixthembodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a seventh embodiment that isimplemented by installing the imaging program and the image settingprogram in the computer constituting the console.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the seventhembodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to an eighth embodiment that isimplemented by installing the imaging program and the image settingprogram in the computer constituting the console.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving asetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images in a case in which thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set not to begenerated.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the eighthembodiment.

FIG. 30 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a ninth embodiment that is implementedby installing the imaging program and the image setting program in thecomputer constituting the console.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating the generation of a slab image.

FIG. 32 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of animage setting device according to a tenth embodiment that is implementedby installing the imaging program and the image setting program in acomputer constituting a PACS.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed in the tenthembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematicallyillustrating a configuration of a radiographic image interpretationsystem to which an image setting device according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure is applied. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in theradiographic image interpretation system according to this embodiment, aradiography system 1 including a console 2 and a mammography apparatus10, a radiology information system (RIS) 6, a picture archiving andcommunication system (PACS) 7, and a plurality of image interpretationterminals (two image interpretation terminals in FIG. 1) 8 are connectedthrough a network 5 so as to communicate with each other.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of theradiography system and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the mammographyapparatus included in the radiography system as viewed from thedirection of an arrow A in FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the radiography system 1 includes the console2 and the mammography apparatus 10. The console 2 comprises a display 3and an input device 4. The console 2 is connected to the RIS 6 and thePACS 7 through the network 5 such that it can communicate therewith.

The radiography system 1 according to this embodiment has a function ofcapturing the images of a breast M using the mammography apparatus 10 onthe basis of an instruction (imaging order) input from the RIS 6 throughthe console 2 in response to an operation of an operator, such as adoctor or a radiology technician, and acquiring a tomographic image anda synthesized two-dimensional image of the breast M. In this embodiment,the mammography apparatus 10 can perform both tomosynthesis imaging andsimple imaging in various imaging directions to generate a tomographicimage and a two-dimensional breast image of the breast M. Thetwo-dimensional breast image means a breast image acquired by the simpleimaging. An image set including the tomographic image and thesynthesized two-dimensional image generated in the radiography system 1as described below is transmitted to the PACS 7 and is then storedtherein. Further, the image set may be stored in the radiography system1.

The mammography apparatus 10 comprises an arm portion 12 that isconnected to a base (not illustrated) by a rotation shaft 11. An imagingtable 13 is attached to one end of the arm portion 12, and a radiationemitting unit 14 is attached to the other end of the arm portion 12 soas to face the imaging table 13. The arm portion 12 is configured suchthat only the end to which the radiation emitting unit 14 is attachedcan be rotated. Therefore, the imaging table 13 is fixed and only theradiation emitting unit 14 can be rotated. The rotation of the armportion 12 is controlled by the console 2.

A radiation detector 15, such as a flat panel detector, is provided inthe imaging table 13. The radiation detector 15 has a radiationdetection surface 15A. In addition, for example, a circuit substrateincluding a charge amplifier that converts a charge signal read from theradiation detector 15 into a voltage signal, a correlated doublesampling circuit that samples the voltage signal output from the chargeamplifier, and an analog-digital (AD) conversion unit that converts thevoltage signal into a digital signal is provided in the imaging table13.

The radiation detector 15 can repeatedly perform the recording andreading of a radiographic image and may be a so-called direct-typeradiation detector that directly converts radiation into charge or aso-called indirect-type radiation detector that converts radiation intovisible light once and converts the visible light into a charge signal.As a method for reading a radiographic image signal, it is desirable touse the following method: a so-called thin film transistor (TFT) readingmethod which turns on and off a TFT switch to read a radiographic imagesignal; or a so-called optical reading method which emits reading lightto read a radiographic image signal. However, the reading method is notlimited thereto and other methods may be used.

A radiation source 16 is accommodated in the radiation emitting unit 14.The radiation source 16 emits, for example, X-rays as radiation. Theconsole 2 controls the timing when the radiation source 16 emits theradiation and the radiation generation conditions of the radiationsource 16, that is, the selection of target and filter materials, a tubevoltage, an irradiation time, and the like.

Further, the arm portion 12 is provided with a compression plate 17 thatpresses and compresses the breast M, a support portion 18 that supportsthe compression plate 17, and a movement mechanism 19 that moves thesupport portion 18 in the vertical direction in FIGS. 2 and 3. Aninterval between the compression plate 17 and the imaging table 13, thatis, a compression thickness is input to the console 2. In addition, thecompression plates 17 having a plurality of sizes and shapescorresponding to the types of imaging are prepared. Therefore, thecompression plate 17 is attached to the support portion 18 so as to beinterchangeable. Further, side walls 17A are formed on the left andright edges of the compression plate 17 in FIG. 2. The side walls 17Aare formed in order to reduce the pain of a patient in a case in whichthe breast M compressed by a compression surface 17B of the compressionplate 17 protrudes from the compression plate 17.

The display 3 is a display device, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or aliquid crystal display, and displays messages required for operations inaddition to a tomographic image and a synthesized two-dimensional imagewhich will be described below. In addition, the display 3 may include aspeaker that outputs sound.

The input device 4 consists of a keyboard, a mouse, or atouch-panel-type input device and receives an instruction to operate themammography apparatus 10 from the operator. In addition, the inputdevice 4 receives the input of various kinds of information required fortomosynthesis imaging, such as imaging conditions, and an instruction tocorrect information. In this embodiment, each unit of the mammographyapparatus 10 is operated according to the information input by theoperator through the input device 4.

An imaging program for performing, for example, tomosynthesis imagingand an image setting program according to this embodiment are installedin the console 2. The console 2 corresponds to the image setting deviceaccording to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the console 2 may be aworkstation or a personal computer that is directly operated by theoperator or a server computer that is connected to them through anetwork. The imaging program is stored in a storage device of a servercomputer connected to the network or a network storage in a state inwhich it can be accessed from the outside and is downloaded andinstalled in the computer as required. Alternatively, the imagingcontrol program is recorded on a recording medium, such as a digitalversatile disc (DVD) or a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), isdistributed, and is installed in a computer from the recording medium.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of theimage setting device that is implemented by installing the imagingprogram and the image setting program in a computer constituting theconsole 2. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the image setting device comprisesa central processing unit (CPU) 21, a memory 22, a storage 23, and acommunication interface (I/F) 24 as a standard computer configuration.

The storage 23 consists of a storage device, such as a hard disk driveor a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various kinds of informationincluding the imaging program and the image setting program for drivingeach unit of the mammography apparatus 10 to perform the tomosynthesisimaging. Further, for example, projection images acquired by imaging,and a plurality of tomographic images and synthesized two-dimensionalimages generated as described below are stored in the storage 23.

The communication I/F 24 is a network interface that controls thetransmission of various kinds of information through the network 5.

The memory 22 temporarily stores, for example, the imaging program andthe image setting program stored in the storage 23 in order to cause theCPU 21 to perform various processes. The imaging program defines, as aprocess to be executed by the CPU 21, an image acquisition process thatcauses the mammography apparatus 10 to perform tomosynthesis imaging toacquire a plurality of projection images of the breast M correspondingto each of a plurality of radiation source positions. The image settingprogram defines the following processes as the processes to be executedby the CPU 21: a reconstruction process that reconstructs a plurality ofprojection images to generate a plurality of tomographic images in eachof a plurality of tomographic planes of the breast M which is an object;a first structure-of-interest detection process that detects, asstructures of interest, important diagnostic structures, such as acalcification, a spicula, and a tumor, from the plurality of tomographicimages; a combination process that generates a structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image from the plurality of tomographicimages; a second structure-of-interest detection process that detects,as the structures of interest, important diagnostic structures, such asa calcification, a spicula, and a tumor, from the plurality oftomographic images and the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image; a setting control process that sets at least someof the plurality of tomographic images as storage-required images ornon-storage-required images according to a result of comparison betweenthe structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages and the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image; a storagecontrol process that stores an image set as the storage-required imagein the storage 23; and a transmission control process that transmits theimage set as the storage-required image to the PACS 7.

Then, the CPU 21 performs a process according to the imaging programsuch that the CPU 21 functions as an image acquisition unit 31. Further,the CPU 21 performs a process according to the image setting program tofunction as a reconstruction unit 32, a first structure-of-interestdetection unit 33, a combination unit 34, a second structure-of-interestdetection unit 35, a setting control unit 36, a storage control unit 37,and a transmission control unit 38.

The image acquisition unit 31 rotates the arm portion 12 around therotation shaft 11 to move the radiation source 16, irradiates the breastM with radiation at a plurality of radiation source positions caused bythe movement of the radiation source 16 according to imaging conditionsfor tomosynthesis imaging, detects the radiation transmitted through thebreast M using the radiation detector 15, and acquires a plurality ofprojection images Gi (i=1 to n, where n is the number of radiationsource positions and is, for example, 15) at the plurality of radiationsource positions. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the acquisition ofthe projection images Gi. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the radiation source16 is moved to each of radiation source positions S1, S2, . . . , Sc, .. . , and Sn. The radiation source 16 is driven at each radiation sourceposition to irradiate the breast M with radiation. The radiationdetector 15 detects the radiation transmitted through the breast M toacquire projection images G1, G2, . . . , Gc, . . . , and Gncorresponding to the radiation source positions S1 to Sn, respectively.Here, the radiation source position Sc illustrated in FIG. 5 is aradiation source position where an optical axis X0 of the radiationemitted from the radiation source 16 is orthogonal to the detectionsurface 15A of the radiation detector 15. Hereinafter, it is assumedthat the radiation source position Sc is referred to as a referenceradiation source position Sc. At each of the radiation source positionsS1 to Sn, the same dose of radiation is emitted to the breast M. Theplurality of acquired projection images Gi are stored in the storage 23.

The reconstruction unit 32 reconstructs the projection images Gi togenerate the tomographic images in which the desired tomographic planesof the breast M have been highlighted. Specifically, the reconstructionunit 32 reconstructs the plurality of projection images Gi using a knownback projection method, such as a simple back projection method or afiltered back projection method, to generate a plurality of tomographicimages Dj (j=1 to m) in each of the plurality of tomographic planes ofthe breast M as illustrated in FIG. 6. In this case, a three-dimensionalcoordinate position in a three-dimensional space including the breast Mis set, pixel values at corresponding pixel positions in the pluralityof projection images Gi are reconstructed for the set three-dimensionalcoordinate position, and pixel values at the coordinate positions arecalculated. A three-dimensional image of the breast M is configured bythe plurality of tomographic images Dj generated by the reconstruction.

The first structure-of-interest detection unit 33 detects structures,such as abnormal shadows, specifically, important diagnostic structures,such as a calcification, a spicula, and a tumor, as the structures ofinterest from each of the plurality of tomographic images Dj. In thisembodiment, the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33 detectsthe structure of interest from each of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj using the above-mentioned CAD. In addition, in a case in whichthe structure of interest is detected by the CAD, a threshold value fordetermining whether or not a pixel value of a pixel included in theimage is the structure of interest is used. It is assumed that the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33 detects the structure ofinterest using a predetermined first threshold value Th1.

The combination unit 34 generates a synthesized two-dimensional imageusing the plurality of tomographic images Dj. In addition, in thisembodiment, the combination unit 34 generates a structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1.

Here, the synthesized two-dimensional image is a pseudo two-dimensionalimage corresponding to a simple two-dimensional image that is capturedby irradiating the breast M with radiation emitted at the referenceradiation source position Sc. In the first embodiment, the combinationunit 34 generates the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 in which the structure of interest included in the breast Mhas been highlighted, using the method described in the specification ofU.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B or the specification of U.S. Pat. No.9,792,703B.

In addition, the combination unit 34 generates the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as follows according to the methoddescribed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B. FIG. 7 is adiagram illustrating the generation of the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1. First, the combination unit 34sets a region of interest including the structure of interest detectedby the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33 in each of theplurality of tomographic images Dj. In this embodiment, it is assumedthat three structures of interest T1 to T3 are detected as thestructures from the plurality of tomographic images Dj. In addition,since a lesion is present in the thickness direction of the breast M,the structures of interest T1 to T3 are present across a plurality oftomographic images. For example, the structure of interest T1 is presentacross four tomographic images D3 to D6, the structure of interest T2 ispresent across three tomographic images D7 to D9, and the structure ofinterest T3 is present across three tomographic images D10 to D12.

The combination unit 34 sets the regions of interest including thestructures of interest T1 to T3 in the plurality of tomographic images.Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a region-of-interest group 40consisting of four regions of interest for each of the tomographicimages D3 to D6 is acquired for the structure of interest T1. Inaddition, a region-of-interest group 41 consisting of three regions ofinterest for each of the tomographic images D7 to D9 is acquired for thestructure of interest T2. In addition, a region-of-interest group 42consisting of three regions of interest for each of the tomographicimages D10 to D12 is acquired for the structure of interest T3.

Then, the combination unit 34 combines only the regions of interestusing, for example, an addition method to generate a synthesizedtwo-dimensional image of the regions of interest. The addition method isa method that weights and adds the pixel values of the correspondingpixels in each of the region-of-interest groups 40 to 42 along adirection from the reference radiation source position Sc to theradiation detector 15, that is, the optical axis X0 illustrated in FIG.5 in a state in which the plurality of tomographic images Dj arestacked. In the addition method, a weight for each pixel during theweighting and addition is set to 1/x in a case in which x is the numberof regions of interest included in the region-of-interest groups 40 to42. Further, a method for generating the synthesized two-dimensionalimage of the regions of interest is not limited to the addition method,and a known technique, such as an averaging method, a minimum intensityprojection method, or a maximum intensity projection method, can beapplied. As a result, the combination unit 34 generatesregion-of-interest synthesized two-dimensional images CG2-1, CG2-2, andCG2-3 for the region-of-interest groups 40 to 42, respectively.

Further, the combination unit 34 combines the region-of-interestsynthesized two-dimensional images CG2-1, CG2-2, and CG2-3 with apredetermined two-dimensional image to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. Aprojection image acquired in a case in which the radiation source 16 isat the reference radiation source position Sc may be used as thepredetermined two-dimensional image. In addition, a simpletwo-dimensional image separately acquired by simple imaging may be used.

Further, the combination unit 34 may generate the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, in which structures have beenhighlighted, by performing combination on the basis of the tomographicimages in which the structures have been detected using the methoddescribed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 9,792,703B instead ofthe method described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,156B.In addition, the structure of interest may not be detected by the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33. In this case, the combinationunit 34 may generate a synthesized two-dimensional image using, forexample, the method described in JP2014-128716A.

The second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 detects structures,such as abnormal shadows, specifically, important diagnostic structures,such as a calcification, a spicula, and a tumor, as the structures ofinterest from the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1. In this embodiment, the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 detects the structure ofinterest from each of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 using the above-mentioned CAD,similarly to the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33. Inaddition, a second threshold value Th2 used in a case in which thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35 detects the structure ofinterest is set to a value smaller than the first threshold value Th1.Therefore, the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 has ahigher structure-of-interest detection sensitivity than the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33. In addition, the detection ofthe structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images Djmeans that the structure of interest is detected from each of theplurality of tomographic images Dj.

The setting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images or thenon-storage-required images according to the result of comparisonbetween the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images and the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image. Specifically,in a case in which the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj are set as thenon-storage-required images, and the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 is set as the storage-required image. On theother hand, in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 are set asthe storage-required images. The at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj may be all of the plurality of tomographic imagesDj or may be one or more tomographic images among the plurality oftomographic images Dj. Some of the plurality of tomographic images Djmay be the tomographic images in which the structure of interest hasbeen detected by the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33 orthe second structure-of-interest detection unit 35. Further, thetomographic images designated by the operator may be used as some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating the detection results of thestructure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images Dj andthe synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. As illustrated in FIG. 8, ina case in which a linear structure is included in some of the pluralityof tomographic images Dj, the linear structures may overlap each other,and a structure of interest K1 may be detected in thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. In thiscase, the structure of interest is not detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj. Therefore, the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is notmatched with the position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. On theother hand, as illustrated in FIG. 9, in a case in which a structure ofinterest K2 is included in some of the plurality of tomographic imagesDj, a structure of interest K3 is also detected at a positioncorresponding to the structure of interest K2 in thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. In thiscase, the position of the structure of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with the position of thestructure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1.

Here, the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 have the same size. Therefore, the position ofthe structure of interest in the tomographic images Dj and the positionof the structure of interest in the synthesized two-dimensional imageCG1 are two-dimensional coordinate positions such as the center ofgravity of the structure of interest detected in each image.

In addition, the matching of the positions of the structure of interestincludes not only a case in which the coordinate positions arecompletely matched with each other but also a case in which thecorresponding structures of interest at least partially overlap eachother in at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1. Further, in a case in which thedistance between the two-dimensional coordinate position of the centerof gravity of the structure of interest in at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the two-dimensional coordinateposition of the center of gravity of the structure of interest in thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 is equal to or less than apredetermined value, it may be determined that the positions of thestructures of interest are matched with each other. Furthermore, in acase in which a plurality of structures of interest are detected in eachof at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional images CG1, it may bedetermined whether or not the positions of the structures of interestare matched with each other on the basis of whether or not the positionsof all of the structures of interest are matched with each other.Moreover, in a case in which there are different types of structures ofinterest, such as a calcification, a spicula, and a tumor, it may bedetermined whether or not the positions are matched with each other foreach type of structure of interest.

In addition, the setting control unit 36 sets a flag indicating that theimage is the storage-required image in a header of an image file of theimage set as the storage-required image to set that the image is thestorage-required image. Further, the setting control unit 36 maygenerate a database for the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 in the storage 23 and assign “1”to the flag of the database for the image set as the storage-requiredimage. Furthermore, a flag “0” is set to a tomographic image that is notset as the storage-required image, that is, a tomographic image that isset as the non-storage-required image. The flag corresponds toinformation indicating the detection result of the structure ofinterest.

The storage control unit 37 stores the image set as the storage-requiredimage in the storage 23. That is, in a case in which the setting controlunit 36 sets the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as thestorage-required image, the storage control unit 37 stores thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 in the storage 23. On the otherhand, in a case in which the setting control unit 36 sets at least someof the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images, the storagecontrol unit 37 stores the at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj and the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 in the storage23. In addition, the image set as the non-storage-required image is notstored in the storage 23.

The transmission control unit 38 transmits the image set as thestorage-required images from the communication I/F 24 to the PACS 7through the network 5. That is, in a case in which the setting controlunit 36 sets the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as thestorage-required image, the transmission control unit 38 transmits thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 to the PACS 7. On the other hand,in a case in which the setting control unit 36 sets at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 as the storage-required images, the transmission control unit38 transmits the at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Djand the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 to the PACS 7. Thetransmitted image is stored in the PACS 7 and is further transmitted tothe image interpretation terminal 8 as needed. The image set as thenon-storage-required image is not transmitted to the PACS 7.

Next, a process performed in the first embodiment will be described.FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the firstembodiment. First, the process is started by the input of an imaginginstruction by the operator, and the image acquisition unit 31 instructsthe mammography apparatus 10 to perform tomosynthesis imaging. Then, themammography apparatus 10 performs the tomosynthesis imaging on thebreast M (Step ST1). A plurality of projection images Gi are acquired bythe tomosynthesis imaging. Then, the reconstruction unit 32 reconstructsthe plurality of projection images Gi acquired by the tomosynthesisimaging (Step ST2). Then, a plurality of tomographic images Dj aregenerated. Then, the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33detects the structure of interest from each of the plurality oftomographic images Dj (first structure-of-interest detection: Step ST3).

Then, the combination unit 34 generates the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 using the structure of interestdetected by the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33 (StepST4). Then, the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 detectsthe structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images Djand the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (secondstructure-of-interest detection: Step ST5).

Then, the setting control unit 36 sets the storage-required image. Thatis, the setting control unit 36 determines whether or not the positionof the structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages Dj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 ismatched with the position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST6). In a case inwhich the determination result in Step ST6 is “No”, at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj are set as the non-storage-requiredimages, and the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 is set as thestorage-required image (Step ST7). On the other hand, in a case in whichthe determination result in Step ST6 is “Yes”, the setting control unit36 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images(Step ST8). In addition, in the following description, it is assumedthat only the step of setting the image as the storage-required image isdescribed in the flowchart. Then, the storage control unit 37 stores theimage set as the storage-required image in the storage 23 (Step ST9),and the transmission control unit 38 transmits the image set as thestorage-required image to the PACS 7 (Step ST10). Then, the processends. The storage-required image transmitted from the console 2 isstored in the PACS 7.

Here, it is considered that the structure of interest included in atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj is represented inthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 in acase in which the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with the position ofthe structure of interest detected from the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1. Therefore, even in a case in which there is no tomographicimage Dj, it may be possible to make a diagnosis using only thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. In thiscase, there is little need to store or transmit the plurality oftomographic images Dj. On the other hand, in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is not matched with the position of the structureof interest detected from the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, thenormal structures in the plurality of tomographic planes may overlap andlook like a lesion in the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as described above. In this case, it ispossible to interpret the tomographic images to determine that thestructure is not a lesion.

In the first embodiment, in a case in which the position of thestructure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesDj is not matched with the position of the structure of interestdetected from the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, at least someof the plurality of tomographic images Dj are set as thenon-storage-required images, and the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 is set as the storage-required image. Further,in a case in which the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 match, at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 areset as the storage-required images. Therefore, since only thestorage-required images are stored or transmitted, the number of imagesstored or transmitted can be less than that in a case in which all ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj are stored or transmitted. As aresult, according to this embodiment, it is possible to further reducethe cost for storage or transmission.

Furthermore, in a case in which the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matchedwith the position of the structure of interest detected from thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, only some tomographic images,such as the tomographic images in which the structure of interest hasbeen detected, among the plurality of tomographic images Dj are set asthe storage-required images. Therefore, the number of images to bestored or transmitted can be less than that in a case in which all ofthe tomographic images are stored or transmitted. Therefore, it ispossible to further reduce the cost for storage or transmission.

Further, since the flag indicating the storage-required image is set inthe header of the image file of the image in which the structure ofinterest has been detected, information indicating the detection resultof the structure of interest is stored in the storage 23 or transmittedto the PACS 7 together with the image set as the storage-required image.Therefore, in a case in which the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 is interpreted and includes the structure ofinterest suspected to be a lesion, it is possible to interpret theimages with reference to the tomographic images Dj including thestructure of interest on the basis of the flag.

Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 11, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denotedby the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated. The second embodiment differs from the firstembodiment in that the image setting device further comprises a firstsetting unit 39 that receives a setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position of the structureof interest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj by thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and, in acase in which the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and the first setting unit 39receives setting of determining at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images, the settingcontrol unit 36 further sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in addition to thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1.

In a case in which the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the first setting unit 39receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images. Thereception of the setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required imagesmay be performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4by the operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3.FIG. 12 illustrates the setting screen for receiving the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe position of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is not matched with the position of the structureof interest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the following aredisplayed on a setting screen 60: a text 61 of “In a case in which thestructures of interest are not matched with each other, do you want toset at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images?”; a YES button 62 that is selected in a case inwhich the tomographic images are set as the storage-required images; anda NO button 63 that is selected in a case in which the tomographicimages are not set as the storage-required images. The operator canselect the YES button 62 or the NO button 63 using the input device 4 toset whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images. The result of thesetting by the first setting unit 39 is stored in the storage 23.

In addition, the reception of the setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images can be performed at any timing. For example, thesetting can be performed before the start of imaging, before the startof the reconstruction process, before the first structure-of-interestdetection process, before the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image generation process, before the secondstructure-of-interest detection process, or before it is determinedwhether or not the structures of interest are matched with each other.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reception of the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images is performed beforeit is determined whether or not the structures of interest are matchedwith each other.

Next, a process performed in the second embodiment will be described.FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the secondembodiment. In addition, in the second embodiment, since the processesup to the second structure-of-interest detection process are the same asthe processes from Step ST1 to Step ST5 in the processes according tothe first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the processes after StepST5 in FIG. 10 will be described.

In a case in which the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35performs the process of detecting the structure of interest from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 and the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the first setting unit 39receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images on thebasis of the instruction from the operator (Step ST21).

Then, the setting control unit 36 sets the storage-required image. Thatis, the setting control unit 36 determines whether the position of thestructure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesDj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST22). In a casein which the determination result in Step ST22 is “No”, the settingcontrol unit 36 determines whether the setting of determining at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-requiredimages is received (Step ST23). In a case in which the determinationresult in Step ST23 is “Yes”, the setting control unit 36 sets at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images (Step ST24). Ina case in which the determination result in Step ST23 is “No”, thesetting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image(Step ST25).

In a case in which the determination result in Step ST22 is “Yes”, thatis, in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the settingcontrol unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj and the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as thestorage-required images (Step ST26). Since the processes after StepsST24, ST25, and ST26 are the same as the processes after Step ST9illustrated in FIG. 10, the detailed description thereof will not berepeated here.

As described above, in the second embodiment, in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is not matched with the position of the structureof interest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1, whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images isset. Therefore, it is also possible to respond to a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is not matched with the position of the structureof interest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 and there is a request to store or transmit atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj.

Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the third embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Further,in FIG. 14, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by thesame reference numerals, and the detailed description thereof will notbe repeated. The third embodiment differs from the first embodiment inthat the image setting device further comprises a second setting unit 45that receives a setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images ina case in which the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched with the position ofthe structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and the setting control unit 36sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images only in a case in which the position of thestructure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesDj is matched with the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 andthe second setting unit 45 receives the setting of determining at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-requiredimages.

The second setting unit 45 receives the setting of whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position of the structureof interest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj by thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1. Thereception of the setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required imagesmay be performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4by the operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3.FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving thesetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe structure of interest is detected. As illustrated in FIG. 15, thefollowing are displayed on a setting screen 70: a text 71 of “In a casein which the structures of interest are matched with each other, do youwant to set at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images?”; a YES button 72 that is selected in a case inwhich the tomographic images are set as the storage-required images; anda NO button 73 that is selected in a case in which the tomographicimages are not set as the storage-required images. The operator canselect the YES button 72 or the NO button 73 using the input device 4 toset whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images. The result of thesetting by the second setting unit 45 is stored in the storage 23.

In addition, the reception of the setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images can be performed at any timing. For example, thesetting can be performed before the start of imaging, before the startof the reconstruction process, before the first structure-of-interestdetection process, before the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image generation process, before the secondstructure-of-interest detection process, or before it is determinedwhether or not the structures of interest are matched with each other.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reception of the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images is performed beforeit is determined whether or not the structures of interest are matchedwith each other.

Next, a process performed in the third embodiment will be described.FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the thirdembodiment. In addition, in the third embodiment, since the processes upto the second structure-of-interest detection process are the same asthe processes from Step ST1 to Step ST5 in the processes according tothe first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the processes after StepST5 in FIG. 10 will be described.

In a case in which the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35performs the process of detecting the structure of interest from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 and the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched with the position ofthe structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the second setting unit 45receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least of some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images onthe basis of the instruction from the operator (Step ST31). Then, thesetting control unit 36 sets the storage-required image. That is, thesetting control unit 36 determines whether or not the position of thestructure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesDj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST32). In a casein which the determination result in Step ST32 is “No”, the settingcontrol unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj the non-storage-required images and sets the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image (Step ST33).

In a case in which the determination result in Step ST32 is “Yes”, thatis, in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the settingcontrol unit 36 determines whether or not the setting of determining atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images is received (Step ST34). In a case in which thedetermination result in Step ST34 is “Yes”, the setting control unit 36sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images(Step ST35). In a case in which the determination result in Step ST34 is“No”, the setting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image(Step ST36). In addition, since the processes after Steps ST33, ST35,and ST36 are the same as the processes after Step ST9 illustrated inFIG. 10, the detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

As described above, in the third embodiment, in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1, whether or not determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images isset. Therefore, it is also possible to respond to a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 and there is a request not to store ortransmit at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj.

In the third embodiment, the first setting unit 39 may be provided as inthe second embodiment. In this case, in the processes after thedetermination result in Step ST32 is “No” in the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 16, the processes after Step ST23 in the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 13 are performed.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.In addition, the configuration of an image setting device according tothe fourth embodiment is the same as the configuration of the imagesetting device according to the first embodiment except only the processto be performed. Therefore, the detailed description of the device willnot be repeated here. In the first embodiment, in a case in which theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is not matched with the position of the structureof interest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1, at least some of the plurality of tomographicimage Dj are set as the non-storage-required images. In a case in whichthe positions of the structures of interest are not matched with eachother, at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 are set as the storage-requiredimages. The fourth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in thatat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 are set as the storage-requiredimages in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, and atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj are set as thenon-storage-required images and only the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 is set as the storage-required image in a case in which thepositions of the structures of interest are matched with each other.

Next, a process performed in the fourth embodiment will be described.FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the fourthembodiment. In addition, in the fourth embodiment, since the processesup to the second structure-of-interest detection process are the same asthe processes from Step ST1 to Step ST5 in the processes according tothe first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the processes after StepST5 in FIG. 10 will be described here.

In a case in which the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35performs the process of detecting the structure of interest from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1, the setting control unit 36 sets the storage-required images.That is, the setting control unit 36 determines whether or not theposition of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit35 is matched with the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1(Are the structures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST41). Ina case in which the determination result in Step ST41 is “Yes”, thesetting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image(Step ST42). On the other hand, in a case in which the determinationresult in Step ST41 is “No”, the setting control unit 36 sets at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images (Step ST43). Inaddition, since the processes after Steps ST42 and ST43 are the same asthe processes after Step ST9 illustrated in FIG. 10, the detaileddescription thereof will not be repeated here.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the fifth embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 18, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denotedby the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated. The fifth embodiment differs from the fourthembodiment in that the image setting device further comprises a thirdsetting unit 46 that receives a setting of whether or not determine atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position of the structureof interest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj by thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and thesetting control unit 36 further sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe position of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 and the third setting unit 46 receives thesetting of determining at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj as the storage-required images.

In a case in which the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj is matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the third setting unit 46receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images. Thereception of the setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required imagesmay be performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4by the operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3.FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving thesetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe structures of interest are matched with each other. As illustratedin FIG. 19, the following are displayed on a setting screen 65: a text66 of “In a case in which the structures of interest are matched witheach other, do you want to set at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images?”; a YES button 67that is selected in a case in which the tomographic images are set asthe storage-required images; and a NO button 68 that is selected in acase in which the tomographic images are not set as the storage-requiredimages. The operator can select the YES button 67 or the NO button 68using the input device 4 to set whether or not to determine at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-requiredimages. The result of the setting by the third setting unit 46 is storedin the storage 23.

In addition, the reception of the setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images can be performed at any timing. For example, thesetting can be performed before the start of imaging, before the startof the reconstruction process, before the first structure-of-interestdetection process, before the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image generation process, before the secondstructure-of-interest detection process, or before it is determinedwhether or not the structures of interest are matched with each other.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reception of the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images is performed beforeit is determined whether or not the structures of interest are matchedwith each other.

Next, a process performed in the fifth embodiment will be described.FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the fifthembodiment. In addition, in the fifth embodiment, since the processes upto the second structure-of-interest detection process are the same asthe processes from Step ST1 to Step ST5 in the processes according tothe first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the processes after StepST5 in FIG. 10 will be described.

In a case in which the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35performs the process of detecting the structure of interest from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 and the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched with the position ofthe structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the third setting unit 46receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images on thebasis of the instruction from the operator (Step ST51).

Then, the setting control unit 36 sets the storage-required image. Thatis, the setting control unit 36 determines whether or not the positionof the structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages Dj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 ismatched with the position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST52). In a casein which the determination result in Step ST52 is “Yes”, the settingcontrol unit 36 determines whether or not the setting of determining atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images is received (Step ST53). In a case in which thedetermination result in Step ST53 is “Yes”, the setting control unit 36sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images(Step ST54). In a case in which the determination result in Step ST53 is“No”, the setting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image(Step ST55).

In a case in which the determination result in Step ST52 is “No”, thatis, in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the settingcontrol unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj and the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as thestorage-required images (Step ST56). In addition, since the processesafter Steps ST54, ST55, and ST56 are the same as the processes afterStep ST9 illustrated in FIG. 10, the detailed description thereof willnot be repeated here.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 21 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the sixth embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 21, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denotedby the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated. The sixth embodiment differs from the fourthembodiment in that the image setting device further comprises a fourthsetting unit 47 that receives a setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position of the structureof interest detected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj by thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with theposition of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and thesetting control unit 36 further sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images only in a case inwhich the position of the structure of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched with the position ofthe structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 and the fourth setting unit 47receives the setting of determining at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images.

In a case in which the position of the structure of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj detected by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the fourth setting unit 47receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images. Thereception of the setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required imagesmay be performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4by the operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3.FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving thesetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe structures of interest are not matched with each other. Asillustrated in FIG. 22, the following are displayed on a setting screen75: a text 76 of “In a case in which the structures of interest are notmatched with each other, do you want to set at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as the storage-required images?”; a YESbutton 77 that is selected in a case in which the tomographic images areset as the storage-required images; and a NO button 78 that is selectedin a case in which the tomographic images are not set as thestorage-required images. The operator can select the YES button 77 orthe NO button 78 using the input device 4 to set whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images. The result of the setting by the fourth settingunit 47 is stored in the storage 23.

In addition, the reception of the setting of whether or not to determineat least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images can be performed at any timing. For example, thesetting can be performed before the start of imaging, before the startof the reconstruction process, before the first structure-of-interestdetection process, before the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image generation process, before the secondstructure-of-interest detection process, or before it is determinedwhether or not the structures of interest are matched with each other.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reception of the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images is performed beforeit is determined whether or not the structures of interest are matchedwith each other.

Next, a process performed in the sixth embodiment will be described.FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the sixthembodiment. In addition, in the sixth embodiment, since the processes upto the second structure-of-interest detection process are the same asthe processes from Step ST1 to Step ST5 in the processes according tothe first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the processes after StepST5 in FIG. 10 will be described.

In a case in which the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35performs the process of detecting the structure of interest from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 and the position of the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 is not matched with the positionof the structure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the fourth setting unit 47receives the setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images on thebasis of the instruction from the operator (Step ST61). Then, thesetting control unit 36 sets the storage-required image. That is, thesetting control unit 36 determines whether or not the position of thestructure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesDj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 is matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST62). In a casein which the determination result in Step ST62 is “Yes”, the settingcontrol unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image (Step ST63).

In a case in which the determination result in Step ST62 is “No”, thatis, in a case in which the position of the structure of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is not matched withthe position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1, the settingcontrol unit 36 determines whether or not the setting of determining atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images is received (Step ST64). In a case in which thedetermination result in Step ST64 is “Yes”, the setting control unit 36sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj and thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required images(Step ST65). In a case in which the determination result in Step ST64 is“No”, the setting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets thesynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image(Step ST66). In addition, since the processes after Steps ST63, ST65,and ST66 are the same as the processes after Step ST9 illustrated inFIG. 10, the detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

Further, in the sixth embodiment, the third setting unit 46 may beprovided as in the fifth embodiment. In this case, in the processesafter the determination result in Step ST62 is “Yes” in the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 23, the processes after Step ST53 in the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 20 are performed.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 24 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according the seventh embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 24, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denotedby the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated. The seventh embodiment differs from the firstembodiment in that the image setting device further comprises a fifthsetting unit 48 that sets whether or not to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 from theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the combination unit 34 generatesthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 in acase in which the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage is set to be generated.

The fifth setting unit 48 sets whether or not to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image from theplurality of tomographic images Dj. The setting of whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image maybe performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4 bythe operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3. FIG.25 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image. Asillustrated in FIG. 25, the following are displayed on a setting screen50: a text 51 of “Do you want to generate a structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image?”; a YES button 52 that is selected ina case in which the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage is generated; and a NO button 53 that is selected in a case inwhich the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is notgenerated. The operator can select the YES button 52 or the NO button 53using the input device 4 to set whether or not to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image. The result ofthe setting by the fifth setting unit 48 is stored in the storage 23.

In addition, the setting of whether or not to generate thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image from theplurality of tomographic images Dj can be performed at any timing. Forexample, the setting can be performed before the start of imaging,before the start of the reconstruction process, before the firststructure-of-interest detection process, or before a process ofgenerating the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the setting of whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional imagefrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj is performed before theprocess of generating the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

In the seventh embodiment, in a case in which the fifth setting unit 48sets to generate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage, the same process as that in the first embodiment is performed. Onthe other hand, in a case in which the fifth setting unit 48 does notset to generate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage, the setting control unit 36 sets at least some of the pluralityof tomographic images Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images. Further, in the seventh embodiment, in a casein which the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image isset not to be generated, the combination unit 34 generates anothersynthesized two-dimensional image that is not the structure-highlightedtype. Then, the setting control unit 36 sets another synthesizedtwo-dimensional image as the storage-required image together with atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj.

Here, the combination unit 34 generates another synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG2 as follows according to the method describedin JP2014-128716A. First, the combination unit 34 performs frequencydecomposition for each of the plurality of tomographic images Dj toderive a plurality of band tomographic images indicating frequencycomponents in each of a plurality of frequency bands for each of theplurality of tomographic images Dj. Further, the combination unit 34combines the plurality of band tomographic images for each frequencyband to generate band synthesized two-dimensional images. For example,an addition method, an averaging method, a maximum intensity projectionmethod, or a minimum intensity projection method can be used as acombination method. Then, the combination unit 34 performs weighting andfrequency composition on the band synthesized two-dimensional images foreach frequency band to generate another synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG2.

Next, a process performed in the seventh embodiment will be described.FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the seventhembodiment. First, the process is started by the input of an imaginginstruction by the operator, and the image acquisition unit 31 instructsthe mammography apparatus 10 to perform tomosynthesis imaging. Then, themammography apparatus 10 performs the tomosynthesis imaging on thebreast M (Step ST71). A plurality of projection images Gi are acquiredby the tomosynthesis imaging. Then, the reconstruction unit 32reconstructs the plurality of projection images Gi acquired by thetomosynthesis imaging (Step ST72). Then, a plurality of tomographicimages Dj are generated. Then, the first structure-of-interest detectionunit 33 detects the structure of interest from each of the plurality oftomographic images Dj (first structure-of-interest detection: StepST73).

Then, the fifth setting unit 48 sets whether or not to generate astructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image on the basis ofan instruction from the operator (Step ST74). Then, the combination unit34 generates a synthesized two-dimensional image. That is, thecombination unit 34 determines whether or not the fifth setting unit 48sets to generate a structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage (Step ST75). In a case in which the determination result in StepST75 is “Yes”, the combination unit 34 generates thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Step ST76).In addition, since the processes after Step ST76 are the same as theprocesses after Step ST5 in the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10,the detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

In a case in which the determination result in Step ST75 is “No”, thecombination unit 34 generates another synthesized two-dimensional imageCG2 that is not the structure-highlighted type (Step ST77). Then, thesetting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj and another synthesized two-dimensional image CG2as the storage-required images (Step ST78). Since the processes afterStep ST78 are the same as the processes after Step ST9 illustrated inFIG. 10, the detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

Further, in the seventh embodiment, in a case in which the setting ofgenerating the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional imageis not performed, another synthesized two-dimensional image CG2 that isnot the structure-highlighted type is generated and is set as thestorage-required image together with at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. Only at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Djmay be set as the storage-required images without generating anothersynthesized two-dimensional image CG2.

Next, an eighth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 27 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the eighth embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 27, the same components as those in FIG. 24 aredenoted by the same reference numerals, and the detailed descriptionthereof will not be repeated. The eighth embodiment differs from theseventh embodiment in that the image setting device further comprises asixth setting unit 49 that receives a setting of whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image is set not to be generated and thesetting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set notto be generated and the setting of determining at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required images isreceived.

The sixth setting unit 49 receives the setting of whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thestorage-required images in a case in which the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image is set not to be generated. Thereception of the setting of whether or not to determine at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-required imagesmay be performed by an instruction that is input from the input device 4by the operator through a setting screen displayed on the display 3.FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a setting screen for receiving thesetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set notto be generated. As illustrated in FIG. 28, the following are displayedon a setting screen 55: a text 56 of “In a case in which thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is notgenerated, do you want to set at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images?; a YES button 57 thatis selected in a case in which the tomographic images are set as thestorage-required images; and a NO button 58 that is selected in a casein which the tomographic images are not set as the storage-requiredimages. The operator can select the YES button 57 or the NO button 58using the input device 4 to set whether or not to determine at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as the storage-requiredimages. The result of the setting by the sixth setting unit 49 is storedin the storage 23.

In addition, in a case in which the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image is set not to be generated, the reception of thesetting of whether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images can be performed atany timing. For example, the setting can be performed before the startof imaging, before the start of the reconstruction process, before thefirst structure-of-interest detection process, or before a process ofgenerating the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reception of the setting ofwhether or not to determine at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj as the storage-required images is performed beforethe process of generating the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.

Next, a process performed in the eighth embodiment will be described.FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the eighthembodiment. In addition, in the eighth embodiment, since the processesup to the structure-of-interest detection process of the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33 are the same as the processesfrom Step ST71 to Step ST73 in the processes according to the seventhembodiment illustrated in FIG. 26, the processes after Step ST73 in FIG.26 will be described here.

In a case in which the first structure-of-interest detection unit 33detects the structure of interest from each of the plurality oftomographic images Dj, the fifth setting unit 48 sets whether or not togenerate the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image,that is, the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1on the basis of the instruction from the operator (Step ST81). Then, ina case in which the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage is set not to be generated on the basis of the instruction fromthe operator, the sixth setting unit 49 receives the setting of whetheror not to determine at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesDj as the storage-required images (Step ST82). Then, the combinationunit 34 generates a synthesized two-dimensional image. That is, thecombination unit 34 determines whether or not the fifth setting unit 48is set to generate a structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage (Step ST83). In a case in which the determination result in StepST83 is “Yes”, the combination unit 34 generates thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Step ST84).In addition, since the processes after Step ST84 are the same as theprocesses after Step ST5 in the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10,the detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

On the other hand, in a case in which the determination result in StepST83 is “No”, the combination unit 34 generates another synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG2 that is not the structure-highlighted type(Step ST85). Then, the setting control unit 36 determines whether or notthe setting of determining at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj as the storage-required images is received (Step ST86). In acase in which the determination result in Step ST86 is “Yes”, thesetting control unit 36 sets at least some of the plurality oftomographic images Dj and another synthesized two-dimensional image CG2as the storage-required images (Step ST87). In a case in which thedetermination result in Step ST86 is “No”, the setting control unit 36sets at least some of the plurality of tomographic images Dj as thenon-storage-required images and sets another synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG2 as the storage-required image (Step ST88). In addition, sincethe processes after Steps ST87 and ST88 are the same as the processesafter Step ST9 illustrated in FIG. 10, the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated here.

Further, in the seventh and eighth embodiments, the processes after StepST5 in the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10 are performed as theprocesses after Step ST76 and ST84. However, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. The processes after Step ST21 in the secondembodiment illustrated in FIG. 13, the processes after Step ST31 in thethird embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16, the processes after Step ST41in the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 17, the processes afterStep ST51 in the fifth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20, or theprocesses after Step ST61 in the sixth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 23may be performed.

Next, a ninth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.FIG. 30 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of animage setting device according to the ninth embodiment of the presentdisclosure that is implemented by installing the imaging program and theimage setting program in the computer constituting the console. Inaddition, in FIG. 30, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denotedby the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereofwill not be repeated. The ninth embodiment differs from the firstembodiment in that the image setting device further comprises a slabimage generation unit 100 which generates at least one slab image fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj.

The slab image generation unit 100 generates at least one slab imagefrom the plurality of tomographic images Dj. FIG. 31 is a diagramillustrating the generation of the slab image. As illustrated in FIG.31, the slab image generation unit 100 adds a predetermined number oftomographic images (five tomographic images in FIG. 31) among theplurality of tomographic images Dj to generate one slab image Dsk. Then,one slab image Dsk is generated for every five tomographic images amongthe plurality of tomographic images Dj.

In the ninth embodiment, the generated slab images Dsk are set as thestorage-required images as at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj. Therefore, in a case in which the plurality of tomographicimages Dj are set as the storage-required images, the slab images Dskare set as the storage-required images as at least some of the pluralityof tomographic images Dj and are then stored or transmitted. Therefore,the amount of data can be less than that in a case in which theplurality of tomographic images Dj are stored or transmitted. As aresult, it is possible to reduce the cost of storage or transmission.

In the ninth embodiment, the slab image generation unit 100 is providedin the image setting device according to the first embodiment. However,the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The slab image generationunit 100 may be provided in the image setting device according to thesecond to eighth embodiments.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the image set asthe storage-required image is stored in the storage 23 and transmittedto the PACS 7. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.Only the storage of the image set as the storage-required image in thestorage 23 or only the transmission of the image to the PACS 7 may beperformed.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the console 2 performs theimage setting process. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. All of the plurality of tomographic images Dj generated in theconsole 2 may be transmitted to the PACS 7, and the PACS 7 may perform,for example, the first structure-of-interest detection process, thecombination process, the second structure-of-interest detection process,and the setting control process. FIG. 32 is a diagram schematicallyillustrating the configuration of an image setting device according to atenth embodiment that is implemented by installing the imaging programand the image setting program in the computer constituting the PACS 7.Further, in the tenth embodiment, it is assumed that the PACS 7 performsthe same processes as those in the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 32, the PACS 7 comprises a CPU 81, a memory 82, astorage 83, a communication I/F 84, a display 85, and an input device 86as a standard computer configuration. Since the CPU 81, the memory 82,the storage 83, the communication I/F 84, the display 85, and the inputdevice 86 have the same functions as the CPU 21, the memory 22, thestorage 23, the communication I/F 24, the display 3, and the inputdevice 4 in the first embodiment, the detailed description thereof willnot be repeated here.

In the tenth embodiment, the CPU 81 executes the image setting processaccording to the image setting program according to the tenth embodimentto function as a first structure-of-interest detection unit 91, acombination unit 92, a second structure-of-interest detection unit 93, asetting control unit 94, and a storage control unit 95.

Next, a process performed in the tenth embodiment will be described.FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the process performed in the tenthembodiment. In addition, in the tenth embodiment, it is assumed that theplurality of tomographic images Dj are transmitted from the radiographysystem 1 to the PACS 7 and are then stored in the storage 83. Theprocess is started in response to a process start instruction from theoperator of the PACS 7, and the first structure-of-interest detectionunit 91 detects the structure of interest from each of the plurality oftomographic images Dj (first structure-of-interest detection: StepST91).

Then, the combination unit 92 generates the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1 using the structure of interestdetected by the first structure-of-interest detection unit 91 (StepST92). Then, the second structure-of-interest detection unit 93 detectsthe structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images Djand the synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (secondstructure-of-interest detection: Step ST93).

Then, the setting control unit 94 sets the storage-required image. Thatis, the setting control unit 94 determines whether or not the positionof the structure of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages Dj by the second structure-of-interest detection unit 93 ismatched with the position of the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image CG1 (Are thestructures of interest matched with each other?: Step ST94). In a casein which the determination result in Step ST94 is “No”, the settingcontrol unit 94 sets at least some of the plurality of tomographicimages Dj as the non-storage-required images and sets the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1 as the storage-required image (Step ST95). Onthe other hand, in a case in which the determination result in Step ST94is “Yes”, the setting control unit 94 sets at least some of theplurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesized two-dimensionalimage CG1 as the storage-required images (Step ST96). Then, the storagecontrol unit 95 stores the images set as the storage-required images inthe storage 23 (Step ST97). Then, the process ends. In this case, theplurality of tomographic images Dj stored in the storage 83 are deletedas needed.

In the tenth embodiment, the PACS 7 may receive the transmission of theprojection images from the radiography system 1 instead of the pluralityof tomographic images Dj. In this case, the PACS 7 is provided with areconstruction unit, and the reconstruction unit generates a tomographicimage from a plurality of projection images and uses the tomographicimage for the process.

Further, in the tenth embodiment, the PACS 7 performs the processesaccording to the first embodiment. However, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. Of course, the PACS 7 may perform any of theprocesses according to the second to ninth embodiments.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33 or 91 and the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 or 93 detect the structure ofinterest from the plurality of tomographic images Dj using the CAD.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality oftomographic images Dj may be displayed on the display 3 such that theoperator observes the tomographic images Dj to designate the structureof interest in the tomographic images Dj.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images Dj are set as the storage-requiredimages or the non-storage-required images according to whether or notthe position of the structure of interest detected from the plurality oftomographic images Dj is matched with the position of the structure ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. At least of some of the plurality of tomographic imagesDj may be set as the storage-required images or the non-storage-requiredimages according to whether or not the number of structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images Dj is equal to thenumber of structures of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image CG1.

Further, in the above-described embodiments, the secondstructure-of-interest detection unit 35 detects the structure ofinterest from the plurality of tomographic images Dj and the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. The second structure-of-interest detection unit 35 maydetect the structure of interest only from the synthesizedtwo-dimensional image CG1. In this case, the setting control unit 36 mayset at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images or the non-storage-required images according tothe result of comparison between the structure of interest detected fromthe plurality of tomographic images Dj by the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33 and the structure of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage by the second structure-of-interest detection process 35.

Further, the radiation in each of the above-described embodiments is notparticularly limited. For example, α-rays or γ-rays can be applied inaddition to the X-rays.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, for example, thefollowing various processors can be used as the hardware structures ofthe processing units executing various processes, such as the imageacquisition unit 31, the reconstruction unit 32, the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 33, the combination unit 34, thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 35, the setting control unit36, the storage control unit 37, the transmission control unit 38, thefirst setting unit 39, the second setting unit 45, the third settingunit 46, the fourth setting unit 47, the fifth setting unit 48, thesixth setting unit 49, and the slab image generation unit 100 of theconsole 2 which is the image setting device, and the firststructure-of-interest detection unit 91, the combination unit 92, thesecond structure-of-interest detection unit 93, the setting control unit94, and the storage control unit 95 of the PACS 7 which is the imagesetting device. The various processors include, for example, a CPU whichis a general-purpose processor executing software (program) to functionas various processing units as described above, a programmable logicdevice (PLD), such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which is aprocessor whose circuit configuration can be changed after manufacture,and a dedicated electric circuit, such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), which is a processor having a dedicatedcircuit configuration designed to perform a specific process.

One processing unit may be configured by one of the various processorsor a combination of two or more processors of the same type or differenttypes (for example, a combination of a plurality of FPGAs or acombination of a CPU and an FPGA). In addition, a plurality ofprocessing units may be configured by one processor.

A first example of the configuration in which a plurality of processingunits are configured by one processor is an aspect in which oneprocessor is configured by a combination of one or more CPUs andsoftware and functions as a plurality of processing units. Arepresentative example of this aspect is a client computer or a servercomputer. A second example of the configuration is an aspect in which aprocessor that implements the functions of the entire system including aplurality of processing units using one integrated circuit (IC) chip isused. A representative example of this aspect is a system-on-chip (SoC).As such, various processing units are configured by using one or more ofthe various processors as a hardware structure.

In addition, specifically, an electric circuit (circuitry) obtained bycombining circuit elements, such as semiconductor elements, can be usedas the hardware structure of the various processors.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image setting device comprising: at least oneprocessor, wherein the processor is configured to generate astructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image from a pluralityof tomographic images, detect a structure of interest from the pluralityof tomographic images and the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image, and set at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as storage-required images or non-storage-requiredimages according to a result of comparison between the structure ofinterest detected from the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure of interest detected from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image.
 2. The image setting device accordingto claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to set at least some ofthe plurality of tomographic images as the non-storage-required imagesand to set the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional imageas the storage-required image in a case in which a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages is not matched with a position or number of the structures ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image.
 3. The image setting device according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to receive a setting of whether ornot to determine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images in a case in which a position or number ofthe structures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographicimages is not matched with a position or number of the structures ofinterest detected from the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image, and set at least some of the plurality oftomographic images and the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image as the storage-required images in a case in whichthe position or number of the structures of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images is not matched with the position ornumber of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image and the settingof determining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asthe storage-required images is received.
 4. The image setting deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to set atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required images in a case in which a position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis matched with a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage.
 5. The image setting device according to claim 2, wherein theprocessor is configured to receive a setting of whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images in a case in which a position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis matched with a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage, and set at least some of the plurality of tomographic images andthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis matched with the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage and the setting of determining at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images is received.
 6. Theimage setting device according to claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to set at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesas the non-storage-required images and to set the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image as the storage-required image in acase in which a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the plurality of tomographic images is matched with aposition or number of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.
 7. The imagesetting device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configuredto receive a setting of whether or not to determine at least some of theplurality of tomographic images as the storage-required images in a casein which a position or number of the structures of interest detectedfrom the plurality of tomographic images is matched with a position ornumber of the structures of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image, and set atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis matched with the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage and the setting of determining at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images is received.
 8. Theimage setting device according to claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to set at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesand the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required images in a case in which a position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis not matched with a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage.
 9. The image setting device according to claim 6, wherein theprocessor is configured to receive a setting of whether or not todetermine at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images in a case in which a position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis not matched with a position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage, and set at least some of the plurality of tomographic images andthe structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required images in a case in which the position or number of thestructures of interest detected from the plurality of tomographic imagesis not matched with the position or number of the structures of interestdetected from the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensionalimage and the setting of determining at least some of the plurality oftomographic images as the storage-required images is received.
 10. Theimage setting device according to claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to set whether or not to generate the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image from the plurality of tomographicimages, and generate the structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image in a case in which the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image is set to be generated.
 11. The imagesetting device according to claim 10, wherein the processor isconfigured to set at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesas the storage-required images in a case in which thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set not to begenerated.
 12. The image setting device according to claim 10, whereinthe processor is configured to receive a setting of determining at leastsome of the plurality of tomographic images as the storage-requiredimages or the non-storage-required images in a case in which thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set not to begenerated, and set at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesas the storage-required images in a case in which the setting ofdetermining at least some of the plurality of tomographic images as thestorage-required images is received.
 13. The image setting deviceaccording to claim 10, wherein, in a case in which thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image is set not to begenerated, the processor is configured to generate another synthesizedtwo-dimensional image different from the structure-highlightedsynthesized two-dimensional image from the plurality of tomographicimages and to set another synthesized two-dimensional image as thestorage-required image.
 14. The image setting device according to claim1, wherein the processor is configured to store an image set as thestorage-required image in a storage.
 15. The image setting deviceaccording to claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to storeinformation indicating a detection result of the structure of interestin the storage.
 16. The image setting device according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to transmit an image set as thestorage-required image to an external device.
 17. The image settingdevice according to claim 16, wherein the processor is configured totransmit information indicating a detection result of the structure ofinterest to the external device.
 18. The image setting device accordingto claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of tomographic imagesare tomographic images in which the structure of interest has beendetected.
 19. The image setting device according to claim 1, wherein atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images are a plurality ofslab images obtained by increasing a thickness of each of the pluralityof tomographic images.
 20. The image setting device according to claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to reconstruct aplurality of projection images acquired by performing tomosynthesisimaging on an object to acquire the plurality of tomographic images. 21.The image setting device according to claim 1, wherein an objectincluded in the plurality of tomographic images is a breast, and thestructure of interest includes at least one candidate of acalcification, a tumor, or a spicula.
 22. An image setting methodcomprising: generating a structure-highlighted synthesizedtwo-dimensional image from a plurality of tomographic images; detectinga structure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image; and setting atleast some of the plurality of tomographic images as storage-requiredimages or non-storage-required images according to a result ofcomparison between the structure of interest detected from the pluralityof tomographic images and the structure of interest detected from thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.
 23. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores an imagesetting program that causes a computer to execute: a procedure ofgenerating a structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional imagefrom a plurality of tomographic images; a procedure of detecting astructure of interest from the plurality of tomographic images and thestructure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image; and a procedureof setting at least some of the plurality of tomographic images asstorage-required images or non-storage-required images according to aresult of comparison between the structure of interest detected from theplurality of tomographic images and the structure of interest detectedfrom the structure-highlighted synthesized two-dimensional image.